SENECA PLACE ON THE COMMONS

Ithaca, NY

The goal of this project was to promote a stronger relationship between the University and the City of Ithaca. The building would replace an underutilized single story building with a mixed-use, nine story building at a strategic intersection of Ithaca, adjacent to the central Commons.

The first level rewards the passing pedestrian with food and coffee from the retail spaces, and a protected roof over Seneca Street sidewalk. The users of the building include several hundred employees of Cornell’s Alumni Department and the Johnson School of Business on the second through fourth floors. The fifth floor has multiple financial services tenants. The upper four floors house a 104 room Hilton Garden Inn.

The building’s fractured geometry and use of multiple materials on the exterior sought to harmonize with the surroundings by maintaining a smaller visual scale.